The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat 11×4: Nobody knows for sure.

I seem to fall into this weird noman’s land when I watch a Darin Morgan episode. Either I adore it at first watch as I did with my eternal favorites “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” (3×4) and “Humbug” (2×20), or I’m not at all sure how I feel about it other than what registers as a vague feeling of malaise after watching 45 minutes of existential angst wrapped up in 35 layers of laughter, like when you’ve overdosed on dark chocolate that’s too sweet. The latter happened after I watched “Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space’” (3×20), “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster” (10×3), and now I’m getting that old familiar feeling after watching his most recent (and final?) episode, the title of which I’m both too lazy and too time-pressed to type out.

Now, let me disclaim again that I don’t dislike any of the above episodes, even the ones that aren’t really my bag. But I’m pretty sure Darin Morgan has no moral foundation.

I say this not because I’m not a fan because I am, and not because he’s an evil man because how would I know? I say it because his episodes, even the ones I adore, have a distinct theme: There is no truth, or if there is, you can’t know it. Therefore, eat, drink, and be crazy and maybe tomorrow you’ll die.

Our personal clash of worldviews notwithstanding, Darin Morgan’s attitude seems to fly in the face of all that sustains The X-Files, lovingly poking fun at the entire philosophical premise behind it, which is exactly why his episodes work so well on Chris “I can’t take myself seriously enough” Carter’s show. It’s like Morgan’s winking at us that this whole search for the truth jag Carter’s on has ever been ridiculous. We love Morgan for it. And if this revival has been inconsistent, sometimes surreally so, at least this hasn’t changed. Morgan‘s the only one brave enough to say that Mulder’s a pompous jerk, but we love him anyway. And this whole quest for the truth can’t go anywhere because there’s nothing to find, but let’s enjoy the ride.

You know what else is consistent about Darin Morgan? He has this strange way of bringing out the best in the characters. Maybe it’s not really the characters, it’s David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. It’s like they come alive when Morgan writes a script. Maybe they’re as excited as we are that they’ve been given interesting material to play with. And right about now, I’d like to get on my knees and thank Darin Morgan for bringing David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson back to life. No. Scratch that. I’d like to thank Darin Morgan for bringing Mulder and Scully back to life.

Most of this episode, particularly their scenes together and the dialogue, felt like it could have taken place during the series proper. Let me repeat that: This didn’t feel like an Alt Reality X-File.

Then again, it didn’t feel like a classic in the making either. It’s cute and it’s funny… in parts… but nothing much actually happens. I could’ve used a little action.

Then again, I’m still happier than I have been so far this season, so….

The Truth is Out There?

Who else thinks this theme was slightly subversive? Subversive as in, “You think The X-Files was as great as you remember, but it’s not us, it’s you. You remembered wrong.”

Well, I do not suffer from the Minghella or the Mandela Effect. And the only parallel universe I believe in is my headcanon. I have had the rewatches, Darin. The magic is exactly what I remember it to be. No, our collective memories aren’t the problem.

I’m like Scully. I want to remember how it was. I want to remember how it all was. And I feel like I’ve eaten the Jello mold of the revival when I should have pulled a Scully and let it go, let the nostalgia reign supreme without interference from a wobbly, artificially flavored reality.

It’s time to face the facts, guys. This is the end of the X-Files. But maybe the point wasn’t to find the truth but to find each other. For no matter where we go in our lives, we will always have the memories of our time together and no one can take those away or alter them in such a way to make us doubt that they actually happened.

B+

Losing the Plot:

Chuck Burke!!!!

The look Mulder gives Scully in the car after he says “innit?” I could live for that.

So all I have to do to get a ride in the Ghostbusters car is go crazy? ‘Cause I can do that.

I’m sure there’s a place for all of us Philes – all us Reggies – in the Spotniz Sanitarium.

What’s with the obvious political references this season? As someone who’s neither red nor blue, they’re not impactful. Worse, they’re not funny.

Best Quotes:

Mulder: Let me get this straight. When it cools, it forms into three different layers with three different textures, all from the same mix?

Hey there. Was wondering if we were going to get another post from you. 😉

I started off not really digging this episode but I warmed up to it a lot. I think when it became obvious that the theme was going to stay bizarre I was all in. The best part was definitely when they had Reggie placed in all the memorable episodes over the years. Laughed out loud a couple of times.

The ending was very bitter sweet with Scully’s words about remembering how it was…but it just reminded me of how it was so I watched season 1, episode 1 the next day…man, this show started off with a bang didn’t it?

Except for the first episode this season I have enjoyed it more than season 10. Here’s hoping the rest follow suit or get even better.

You were. You did. And the revamped flashbacks were my favorite part too. When all else fails, there’s always nostalgia.

Can you believe how well the Pilot STILL holds up??? It really is crazy. And the characterization it began stayed consistent. The characters grew, but they were, in essence, the same people we met in the beginning.

I completely empathized with Scully’s three-layer Goop-O remark: I want to remember the X Files as I remember during the original run. The excitement on those Friday nights as the episode unveiled, the Philes furor that night/the next few days on Usenet groups, AOL, Delphi, Prodigy, CompuServe. My *deletes word “struggle”* difficulty is thinking of these past two X-Files seasons as canon X Files and not Mirror, Mirror X-Files. (Because Frohike with the Fu Manchu Spock beard would be my everything.) When I think back on the series, I remember those live television Phile highs: “their fingers touched!” moments, analyzing every single frame in the trailer for S2 E1 when it first aired because we were O-M-G so happy the show had been renewed for a SECOND SEASON (little did we know, amiright?), those early years when I could believe The Conspiracy would make sense.

Women forget the pain and hell that is childbirth, nature ensures the only those happy moments remain. Without it, we would never survive as a species. My female brain has done the same with this series: I remember the highlights, the UST, the gasps as I watched those mythology-laced S1, S2 and S3 episodes. And that’s a much better place for me fan grrl-wise; goodness knows I’ve reiterated on this forum and elsewhere how I’ve made a point to pick and choose specific episodes to watch throughout the show’s sunset. I need to remember the X Files and those Phile highs — as Scully reminisced, those joyous moments of youth and naivete.

Agreed the politics can be tiresome but the sad reality is that a series about FBI agents in 2018 would be ignoring the elephant in the room (ugh… Frearful Symmetry, see how I’d forgotten that pain???) if they didn’t mention the Bureau’s beating under this current administration. And this was written before the Nunes memo release; IMO the remarks this season are more salient than ever (rather than the random punchline as was made in IWtB’s “Bush portrait at FBI HQS/’X Files theme music'” moment).

I’ve re-watched the episode twice… which is high praise for the recent episodes. It was not profound as was CBFR, it was not complex in its (literal) perspective as was JCFOS and the parody went too far for my taste but my collective XF bar is so low at this point a “nothing to write home about” DM episode of XF is still more worthwhile than most of the last two season’s fare.

Of interest to me is a central question in this episode: of what relevance is Mulder’s conspiracy theory-laden existence when conspiracy theory (i.e. “birtherism”) is considered quasi-mainstream thought? Is Mulder so mainstream now as to no longer be a relevant rebel?

So now I’ll (re)eat my nostalgia Goop-O in the form of “Pusher”, thank you very much. Because Vince Gilligan will always provide my happy 90s fan grrl place.

I feel like I have to even myself out with Pusher or Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose or Paper Hearts from these painfully watered down versions of The X-Files. Season 9 wasn’t this painful, it was tolerable at least. This episode is a somewhat bright spot I will say.

“It was not profound as was CBFR, it was not complex in its (literal) perspective as was JCFOS and the parody went too far for my taste but my collective XF bar is so low at this point a “nothing to write home about” DM episode of XF is still more worthwhile than most of the last two season’s fare.”

I’m just copying and pasting this fine summary to make sure it gets the attention it deserves.

This episode seems to have got a lot of fans excited again. A classic it isn’t though, at least that I feel fairly sure is a reality. Too clever for its own good without the usual charm of Morgan’s farcical antics; I mean most of it seems to take place in the car park. It was cool to see Angel from the Rockford Files though. Political stuff did nothing for me either. Suspense! I need suspence! Without endless quick shots and all too eager explanations.

“It’s cute and it’s funny… in parts… but nothing much actually happens. I could’ve used a little action.”
YES.
I found the first twenty minutes hilarious, but then was honestly kinda bored for the rest of the episode. Somewhere around the appearance of Dr. They. It didn’t lead anywhere, and I don’t mean questions answered. We’re all so beyond that at this point. The humor didn’t lead anywhere. The jokes got repetitive and obvious…

I definitely agree with you about DMs worldview. While it differs from my own as well, I can enjoy his defeatist style in Clyde, Jose Chung and Weremonster, but in this episode I found it jarring. Probably because that’s all the episode really entailed. There was no real plot and therefore no subtlety.
And the alien at the end? Sheesh. I have to go watch Clyde Bruckman. On repeat. With Ben&Jerrys. Its the only way I can deal with my feelings.

PS: As someone who’s also neither red nor blue, I agree about the politics. It’s okay to mention the times were in, however, jumping up and down waving, and all “Look, guys, look how relevant the x-files still is in our current political climate. Look! Look! Look!” Like an eight year old doing handstands in front of their negligent father whose on the phone with a business call, DESPERATE for acknowledgement. It gets old. FAST. For the love of God, WE SEE YOU.

Exactly. He made his humorous point in the first 20 minutes and then belabored it. It fell flat because it didn’t go anywhere. And I’m in complete agreement. His defeatism has its own charm when it has the right plot to showcase it. JCFOS is so multi-layered it’s impossible to find it all out in one viewing, love it or hate it.

I’m with ya on the political references. The premiere was bad enough with them and this episode really didn’t need them. What I love about The X-Files is some of it’s timeless quality (at least in the first 6 seasons) there was hardly any reference to who was President or major world events besides a frame of Bill Clinton in Skinner’s office. This episode still is one of the better ones so far this season (I actually really liked ep 3 and despised the first 2) but yeah the political references really made me cringe. It’s sad that we have to lay witness to the atrocities of this revival and I thought First Person Shooter was bad. Love your blog, long time reader first time commenter.

I was looking forward to seeing another Darin Morgan-written episode. Although I think it would be tough to live up to my favorites, Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose, I thought Season 10’s Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster script was a fun trip into the amusing jaunt, with some nice nods to the Philes with a sprinkle of humor that helped to break up the otherwise heavy season.

Perhaps I was hoping for too much this season from Morgan, that this episode ultimately didn’t deliver…at least not for me. Opinions of other fans that I’ve had the opportunity to discuss this episode were quite mixed. Some loved it, while others, like myself, were left with this with a “what just happened” feeling.

Don’t get me wrong, like the previous Morgan episodes before it, it had both some fun, amusing, and poignant moments. It’s questioning of reality in this time of fake news felt timely, but the execution might have been a head scratcher, or forehead sweat, if you will. Perhaps that was the point. Still, I found myself much like Scully in the episode saying, “Wait, what?”

The very existence of Reggie brings into question if the moments we were so sure of for years on the X-Files were reality or some distorted dream world. The “question everything” mentality of the X-Files itself is used against it in this episode.

Scully’s parting words “I want to remember how it was. I want to remember how it all was,” have never been more relevant as the show may be coming to an end. If this was a final bow for Morgan and one of the last episodes for the series in general, then I, too, want to remember it for the good times exactly the way it lives in my mind.

I’m with you, girl. And somehow, this time around, Morgan’s “nothing is real or true” sentiments felt less funny and more frightening in a season that has us all questioning the wealth of what we remembered.

Even the name of the episode feels forced. This whole episode felt like a strained grin.

British person, here. I have taped the first three episodes broadcast on my wet island but I haven’t watched any yet. I will bother eventually, as like you, the X-Files was a defining part of my teenage self.

I am going to suggest something as outrageous as Mulder spouting about alien government conspiracy in season one What would it take for fandom to make the show finale it – and we – deserve? Because I hear you – S10 and S11 give us the structure of the original run (FBI, MOTW)), but not the heart (M&S enjoying knowing each other) and drive (the world is ending due to re-colonisation).

The show made writers, directors, executive producers, actors, photographers, artists, set designers, community and online fandom power. Within the show and its production, this is us saying a big fat NO! to a few white men making our lives miserable for their gain.

Fandom know the canon, fandom know the aesthetic, fandom can probably crowd fund. I want to believe as a community, we can write the whole script of the finale (across episodes or a film, as appropriate) that makes us all happy. I believe we can make the whole script available to fandom, and the actors, so they know exactly how much we care about the story, the characters, and them as people. I see the same Shakespeare play every year – I know the words from four hundred years ago, but the delight is in the staging and performance. Something is only a surprise once – we re-watch what we enjoy.

Can you imagine the delight if GA and DD said yes to a fan written, fan crowd funded, and fan filmed series finale? I believe in the impossible, as I know I want to change what we are being subjected to. I know it would take a lot of un/underpaid work in the first instance. But if we’re transparent about the process, and we know what the end goal is, we’d have a lasting legacy of what we want from the show, and the power of community.

“S10 and S11 give us the structure of the original run (FBI, MOTW)), but not the heart (M&S enjoying knowing each other) and drive (the world is ending due to re-colonisation).”

You just put your finger on the nerve of the WHOLE THING.

I’d be with you on crowdfunding a suitable finale, but at this point, we’d have to erase the last two seasons… possibly even IWTB, in order to come up with a plot that would be remotely satisfying for anybody. Also, I may be a doubting Thomas, but CC give up control of this ship? Pfft.

My current thinking is keeping season 1-9 as canon with Fight The Future, and scrubbing IWTB, S10 and S11. I’d write thirteen episodes of the ‘right’ season 10 so the whole show could finish the Hero’s Journey on 10×13. I’d also want a film for William to deal with his origins before reuniting with M&S, as he needs a Hero’s Journey too. Plus, origin films make a lot of cash. It gives us definite objectives so we can pace the resistance to recolonisation and the emotional weight.

Also, I see WIlliam as transgender. Not just because we need more female leads in this show, but because if you think you’re looking for a son when you have a daughter makes canon more believable. It’s also a very current in our culture. In canon Scully (and Mulder) have been exposed to Black Oil which creates aliens with rapid body changing abilities.

So, as much as I wish I could begin my head canon at the end of Season 7, because I didn’t mentally reject Seasons 8 & 9 as they aired, like you, they’re canon to me. IWTB just didn’t do what it needed to do, namely, pick up where “The Truth” left off with Mulder and Scully on the run, nor did it jumpstart the search for William.

YES. 10×13 and a Hero’s Journey. This show was always a Hero’s Journey. Which is why humanizing or “realisticizing” its heroes too much never worked out to my humble satisfaction. This is a fantasy, dang it. Let Don Quixote and Sancho Panza complete the quest.

The shapeshifting Bounty Hunters had no relationship to the Black Oil except that they appeared to work as mercinaries​ for the alien essence.

“The shapeshifting Bounty Hunters had no relationship to the Black Oil except that they appeared to work as mercinaries​ for the alien essence.”

In 6×01 The Beginning, the Black Oil is shown to gestate rapidly in high temperatures and birth itself from a human as a big clawed being. In a matter of days, it is seen to have transformed into a little grey alien in a nuclear power plant.

It’s details like this in 200+ hours of canon which makes fandom collaboration and proof reading necessary if we’re going to make the Hero’s Journey ending a success.

Also, whoever we are pitching this AU to (Fox, a different network depending on copyright), it sets a precedent that they can keep commissioning new endings to make money from, and get other people to play key characters (as I doubt GA will come back for anything but a Hero’s Journey ending). The X-Files does Sliders.

I think GA is serious about extricating herself. I’m reading between the lines of her interviews so I can’t speak for her, but it sounds like she feels a little suckered, that she didn’t sign up to restart The X-Files but to finish it once and for all. That hasn’t happened and she doesn’t want to be strung along or continue to string (limp) the show along. Yes, ma’am.

Over egging the pudding
Flogging a dead horse
Fattening an obese calf
Adding straw to a camel with a broken back

In other words, just like I have done with my analogies, this episode went over the to, which is a shame, because it could have been really good.

Without reading up anything about The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat before it aired, I was already sure that it was going to be a farcical episode, if the structure of season ten was anything to go by. When I saw the first scene, I was so chuffed to see that Darin Morgan had made homage to Jose Chung’s From Outer Space by mimicking Mulder’s by eating scene in the diner. I thought it was going to be a spin off of that episode.

I made quite a few squealing finger points at the television, especially when I saw the X on Mulder’s window. I was momentarily worried that they were going to try and bring X back, but was relieved that they didn’t.

Another spark of genius was calling the Doctor ‘They’; that made me laugh. There were a lot of things that made me laugh – I think my favourite was Mulder’s outrage at Scully that he might mistake the Outer Limits for the Twilight Zone – but they (no pun intended!) repeated the same joke way too much.

There was a moment – during Reggie’s explanation of the Minghella Effect that I thought ‘Come on, enough already, just get on with the story’, and then a few moments later I suddenly realised ‘oh no, there is no story, this is it.’

What’s wrong with this episode is that nothing happened. There was no character or plot progression and so it just stayed static. It was basically a gag reel.

What’s great about Jose Chung’s From Outer Space (and other episodes like it) is that it not only parodies itself, but actually goes somewhere. It’s also the case that episodes such as these were few and far between, which made them gems. I feel like the writers are trying to stick in too many spoofs during the revival in order to say ‘hey look, we’re harking back to old times’.

I think this could have been a good episode, but they lost sight of the story and just got caught up in gags.

Just a few more general thoughts:

1. Adult Mulder’s head on child Mulder’s head is just creepy.

2. Too much politics. If you are a fan not living in the US, it is even less relevant. The original X-Files series has a timeless quality to it because politics is mostly avoided, and and references to the then current president or current affairs were very vague. Now, with all the references to Trump and so on, it is inevitable that in ten years time it is going to feel very dated, and fans of the future aren’t going to be aware of the references or even care.

3. For a book with All the Answers, it was very slim.

4. I loved how they inserted Reggie into scenes of classic episodes, but I found the language too crude. It would have been better if he’d just been quiet in those scenes.

5. I loved how Reg was inserted in to the title sequence. It would have been funny if they actually used that as the opening title sequence, leaving everyone wondering what the heck was going on until later in the episode when it gets explained.

6. It would have been funny if the Thirteen Productions/’I made this’ at the end of credits had changed in some way, E.G. ‘Twelve Productions/’She made this’, as part of the Minghella Effect.

The Diner throwback was on point and I smiled in gratitude at the X. Though I’m ashamed to admit it only just occurred to me how genius the use of “They” was.

“I think my favourite was Mulder’s outrage at Scully that he might mistake the Outer Limits for the Twilight Zone – but they (no pun intended!) repeated the same joke way too much.”

I laughed at that one too.

“There was a moment – during Reggie’s explanation of the Minghella Effect that I thought ‘Come on, enough already, just get on with the story’, and then a few moments later I suddenly realised ‘oh no, there is no story, this is it.’”

And boom.

“What’s wrong with this episode is that nothing happened. There was no character or plot progression and so it just stayed static. It was basically a gag reel.”

I’m just here to agree with you.

“What’s great about Jose Chung’s From Outer Space (and other episodes like it) is that it not only parodies itself, but actually goes somewhere. It’s also the case that episodes such as these were few and far between, which made them gems. I feel like the writers are trying to stick in too many spoofs during the revival in order to say ‘hey look, we’re harking back to old times’.”

Again, CC swore up and down that the revival would be no mere excersize in nostalgia. But nostalgia is still pretty much all it has going for it. They’re not bringing anything new to The X-Files franchise, they’re just watering down and wearing down the old. Maybe that’s not possible in a revival? Maybe you need regular, established material to riff and spoof off of? Morgan could write JCFOS because we had had three solid seasons of taking Mulder’s quest for the “truth” seriously. It could never have worked in Season 1. Similarly, Seasons 6 (which I’m personally a fan of) and 7 turned viewers off by having too great a spoof to serious ratio. Maybe these kinds of episodes don’t really work unless you have a solid base to break from.

“2. Too much politics. If you are a fan not living in the US, it is even less relevant. The original X-Files series has a timeless quality to it because politics is mostly avoided, and references to the then current president or current affairs were very vague. Now, with all the references to Trump and so on, it is inevitable that in ten years time it is going to feel very dated, and fans of the future aren’t going to be aware of the references or even care.”

Preach.

“5. I loved how Reg was inserted into the title sequence. It would have been funny if they actually used that as the opening title sequence, leaving everyone wondering what the heck was going on until later in the episode when it gets explained.”

That would have been brilliant!

“6. It would have been funny if the Thirteen Productions/’I made this’ at the end of credits had changed in some way, E.G. ‘Twelve Productions/’She made this’, as part of the Minghella Effect.”

This also would have been a fabulous idea. But I haven’t ruled out CC pulling an “it was all only a dream” fast one come season end.

So with a Darin Morgan Script I’m expecting an atypical x files, or a comedy. He is keeping his tradition of long titles for his episodes. I’m not sure what this title means or indicates but the man in the teaser has a sweaty forehead. The dinner looks like the one from “Jose Chungs ‘From Outer Space'”. The guy who thinks he’s seeing aliens looks like the same guy from “Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man”, one of the shadowy figures who sends the CSM on his mission to kill JFK. Judging by the teaser alone I’m not sure I’m in the mood for this type of episode. If it’s clever and funny then that’s good. The teaser does seem like an old episode of the twilight zone.

So another guy with a sweaty forehead, hmm. I can totally relate to Mulder and his love of the old classic sci fi shows, his collections of vhs tapes and books. This seems like Darin Morgan talking here, but I guess it does fit Mulder’s character. I noticed the X in the window. Is X still alive? So are Mulder and Scully not living together? As she is calling him when he is at home? I don’t like the thinly veiled political statements again about the state of the world now. These statements will date the episode. Love how Scully hangs up on him quickly.

Ok so the “X” on the window is to make a rendezvous in the car park. So who was he planning to meet initially before the sweaty guy turns up? All this talk about about the Mandela / Mingle effect etc is rather boring to be honest. The whole second act is just the three of them discussing this. I think “they” are forgetting that old adage, show the audience, not tell them. Did anyone recognise ‘Chuck’/ Dr Burke (Mulder’s long standing colleague/contact) as the merchandise shop owner? Speaking of parallel universes, “4-D” from season nine is my favourite episode of the ninth season. That was entertaining.

So the ‘alien’ came to earth to warn us about the ozone. Does this tie into “My Struggle” aliens who came to protect earth from mankind? I wonder if the comments on the video is a sly dig at the audience about their complaints of season 10/11? There is a lot of talking in the car park basement in this episode. Seems like a script to save money.

“I’m” Fox freaking Mulder!” Haha. It’s like David Duchonvy trying to get back into character. I love the sequence with the alternative x files past with the clips. Very cleverly done, and by far the best bit of the episode. The rest is more talking and more references to Trump. It’s like this whole season is turning out to be anti-Trump propaganda. It’s too much and is spoiling the show. The references keep coming. This script also feels like Darin Morgan reminiscing about how times are changing and that he can’t keep up or understand the world we live in today. Which I can somewhat understand. I like the creepy statues as the backdrop to the conversation with Mr They. What’s wrong with his eyes?

I like the use of the score from “I Want To Believe”. I liked the nod to Frank Spotnitz, ‘Spotniz Sanatorium’, and The Ghostbusters car, but I’m not sure why that was thrown in there. I disliked the scene showing water boarding. I though that was highly offensive and insensitive. This happened to real people and it wasn’t funny. Some of these people were innocent civilians who were tortured. Also I want to remember how it was too. It’s seems like a conscious nod to the past, and maybe they cant recapture the magic of the x files. For me this is my least favourite of the Darin Morgan episodes. No way near as good as the others. It’s an interesting idea, but I don’t think it translated too well to the small screen. The whole episode was too much talking. It did kind of feel like an old twilight zone episode, but maybe that was the whole point.

I’ve just read on Wikipedia for this episode that Mr Reggie Somehing made his debut in “This” . I did notice at the time, but didn’t know who the picture was of. He was glimpsed briefly in the scene with the digitised files Skinner is showing Mulder & Scully. So I’ve only clicked now. This lends more credence the the idea that the whole of season 11 is some vision/dream/distorted reality maybe?